Professor Whitman is also a Senior Visiting Fellow at Chatham House (formerly known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs) and an Academic Fellow at the European Policy Centre. He regularly writes and researches for think tanks.

He was Professor of Politics at the University of Bath 2006-2011. Senior Fellow, Europe (April 2006-April 2007) and Head of the European Programme at Chatham House (April 2004 to April 2006). Prior to arrival at Chatham House he was Professor of European Studies at the University of Westminster and where he was also Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy from 2001-2003.

Richard Whitman is a contributor to leading journals, and has presented many papers and keynote addresses. His current research interests include the external relations and foreign and security and defence policies of the EU, and the governance and future priorities of the EU. He is on the editorial boards of European Security and Studia Diplomatica.

Links

Publications

Whitman, R. (1998). From Civilian Power to Superpower? The international identity of the EU. [Online]. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Available at: http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?PID=252271.

From Civilian Power to Superpower? asserts that a new, distinctive and significant actor has entered the international system. The text explores how the European Union has become a significant international actor without transforming itself into a nation-state. The international context, within which the Union now operates, and the instruments, now available at its disposal, have undergone a convergence to create circumstances in which the relative significance of the Union and its uniqueness in the international system has been enhanced.

This chapter argues that sub-Saharan Africa is an important component of the European Union's strategic behaviour. By analysing EU missions in Africa, the chapter locates the evolution of Europe's strategic culture in 3 frames: human security, security-development nexus and support for local preferences

The European Union has been working to deepen the economic and political relationship with its Eastern neighbouring countries over the recent years. A set of formal agreements are intended for signature between the EU and Ukraine, Moldova and the South Caucasus states at the Eastern Partnership (EaP) summit scheduled for 28-29 November 2013. These agreements have provoked a response from the Russian Federation which is seeking to offer an alternative set of economic relationship to the exclusion of the EU.
In the first Policy Paper to be published, the recently created Global Europe Centre (GEC) sets out a reform agenda that the EU needs to adopt towards the EaP states to enable a more binding relationship. The paper argues that the EU needs to define a 'next generation' objective for the EaPas it enters the implementation phase of the current set of Association Agreements (AAs). The proposal is that the EU should set a European Partnership Community (EPC) statusas a bilateral and multilateral goal for the EaP. The paper contends that there is urgency for the EU to think more strategically vis-à-vis its neighbourhood, and create a more clear-cut place for Russia to avoid the current situation of divisive competition.
Further, the EU needs to reform aspects of its current EaP policy. The EU needs to define a clearer, and measureable set of objectives for its role in the resolution of the 'frozen' conflicts of its Eastern neighbourhood; refresh its policy towards Belarus; speed up visa liberalisation to ease travel for citizens of the EU's neighbouring states; and deepen and broaden civil society engagement by investing more in deep democracy, linkage and people-to-people contacts.

The European Union has increasingly taken on a role as international security provider that extends beyond the geographical scope of its membership. This is clear from the wide range of military and civilian crisis management missions that the Union has undertaken, but also identifiable through its other policies, such as the European Neighbourhood Policy and development assistance, which have also to some extent become security focused. Yet, the role of the EU as an international security provider remains under-theorized and weakly understood.
The book analyses the Union's role as an international security provider in a comprehensive way developing theoretical as well as empirical grounding for the understanding of the making and implementation of EU security policy. The contributions in this book cover actors involved in the policy making process, the dynamics of this process itself, its outcomes (strategies and policies) and their impact on the ground. They examine the relevance of, and apply, existing theories of international relations, international security and foreign policy analysis to the specific case of the EU, investigate empirically how particular policies are formulated and implemented, and study the impact and effectiveness of the Union as an international security provider in a variety of cases compared. This book was previously published as a special issue of Global Society.

Italy's foreign policy has often been dismissed as too idiosyncratic, inconsistent and lacking ambition.
This book offers new insights into the position Italy has attained in the international community in the 21st century. It explores how the country has sought to take advantage of its passage from a bipolar to a multipolar system and assesses the ways in which it has engaged internationally, its new responsibilities, and the manner in which it conducts its policies in the pursuit of its interests, whether political or commercial. It argues that although Italy is engaged internationally, there is a gap between its actions and what it actually delivers, and as long as this gap continues Italy is likely to remain a partial and unreliable foreign policy actor. Divided into three parts, this book explores:
the context and processes which characterise Italy's external action
its relations with crucial countries and regions such as the US, the EU, and the BRICs
its security and defence policies.

In recent years the European Union has played an increasingly important role as a manager of global conflicts. This book provides a comprehensive assessment of how the EU has performed in facilitating mediation, conflict resolution and peacebuilding across the globe. Offering an accessible introduction to the theories, processes and practice of the EU's role in managing conflict, the book features a broad range of case studies from Europe, Asia and Africa and examines both institutional and policy aspects of EU conflict management. Drawing together a wide range of expert contributors, this volume will be of great interest to students of European Foreign Policy, the EU as a global actor and conflict resolution and management.

In implementing the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) the European Union offers a deeper political and economic relationship to its neighbours - but without a promise of EU membership. The ENP is intended to be a strategic approach to the post-enlargement situation which redraws boundaries between the EU 'insiders' and the 'outsiders' on the EU's borders.
This volume presents an empirical exploration of the ENP, in which the main emphasis is on an assessment of the impact the ENP has had so far and the factors that have shaped its implementation since 2003. The volume also provides a perspective on how to study this relatively new policy area. It contends that the ENP represents a distinctive challenge for scholars studying the European Union and that the development of a structured relationship that embraces neighbouring states represents a 'coming of age' for the Union.

This Handbook brings together key experts on European security from the academic and policy worlds to examine the European Union (EU) as an international security actor.
In the two decades since the end of the Cold War, the EU has gradually emerged as an autonomous actor in the field of security, aiming to safeguard European security by improving global security. However, the EU's development as a security actor has certainly not remained uncontested, either by academics or by policy-makers, some of whom see the rise of the EU as a threat to their national and/or transatlantic policy outlook.
While the focus of this volume is on the politico-military dimension, security will also be put into the context of the holistic approach advocated by the EU. The book is organised into four key sections:
• Part I – The EU as an International Security Actor
• Part II – Institutions, Instruments and Means
• Part III – Policies
• Part IV – Partners

Since it was first introduced in 2002 the concept of Normative Power Europe (NPE) has been actively and intensively debated by scholars in the fields of European Studies and International Relations. The theory of NPE promotes the idea of the European Union as an 'ideational' actor in global politics characterised by its attempts to promote a set of common principles, and acting to diffuse norms in International Relations.
This volume brings together an international group of scholars to examine the methodological, theoretical and empirical challenges in the study of the European Union through NPE. Contributors assess the impact that NPE has had to-date. Collectively the contributions offer new theoretical and methodological perspectives on one of the most widely used and influential ideas in the study of the EU of the last decade.

Whitman, R.G. and Manners, I. eds. (2000). The Foreign Policies of European Union Member States. [Online]. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Available at: http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9780719057793.

This comparative analysis of the foreign policies of European Union member states includes comprehensive coverage of the post-Maastricht period and the three newest members of the EU. In the only comparative study of its kind since 1976, the book analyzes the dual impact of the Maastricht Treaty on the European Union, and the post-Cold War environment on the foreign policy processes of the EU's member states. The book argues for a new approach to the foreign policy analysis of EU states that recognizes the fundamental changes that membership brings after the Cold War, but also acknowledges the diverse role of policies which states seek to retain or advance as being "special."

This volume looks at the process of enlargment which the European Union is currently undertaking, focusing on both the economic and political dimensions of the subject. The volume examines how enlargment has evolved and looks at the roles and relations of the different actors - member states, applicant states and EU institutions. With contributors coming from different disciplinary backgrounds, the volume offers an unusually rich array of perspectives on one of the most significant political developments of recent years.

Rethinking the European Union draws together contributors from across Europe to reflect upon methods of conceptualising the European Union within both changing global and European contexts. The book takes the themes of institutions, interests and identities as its organising framework within which each contributor offers a distinctive commentary on the EU. The outcome is a text that goes beyond an exploration of the existing methods of conceptualising the European integration process and reflects upon the nature of the EU itself.

Article

Haastrup, T. et al. (2017). The EU as International Mediator - Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives. International Negotiation[Online]. Available at: http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/15718069.

In this introductory article, we conceptualise EU mediation practice and identify different conceptual and empirical perspectives from which EU mediation practice can be analysed. First, we briefly present different understandings of mediation in research and practice, and offer a definition and terminological/conceptual clarification of EU mediation practice that both covers EU mediation efforts and mediation support activities. Second, we present the institutional architecture for EU mediation activities. Third, we specify the focus of the special issue and derive a number of research questions that have not been sufficiently addressed in EU foreign policy studies and mediation research, yet. Based on these questions, we propose some tentative avenues for studying EU mediation along three key concepts: (1) drivers of EU mediation, (2) EU mediation roles and strategies, and (3) EU mediation effectiveness. Finally, we provide an overview of the contributions to this special issue.

Whitman, R. (2017). Epilogue: European Security and Defence in the Shadow of Brexit. Global Affairs[Online]2:521-525. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23340460.2017.1300066.

This piece provides an epilogue to the Forum on European security following the UK EU Referendum. The EU has been a centrepiece in Britain's foreign policy. The piece argues that Brexit presents the prospect of a major rethink in the aims, ambitions and conduct of British diplomacy and defence.
From the perspective of third parties – and most especially for the EU and its member states – the reaction to the prospect of Brexit has been no less clear and the impact on European security no less certain. The piece highlights how contributors to this Forum all share the assessment of an uncertain future whether discussing bilateral relationships, the impact on
the EU and NATO or the political economy of European defence.
This Forum illustrates that it will be a European security and defence future of considerable uncertainty. A central issue to be resolved will be whether the EU and the UK are able to build a strategic partnership that encompasses issues of foreign policy, security and defence.
The UK will also need to recalibrate its key bilateral relationships in Europe and with the United States. This creates an ambitious agenda for practitioners alike.

It cannot be assumed that the United Kingdom and European Union's current shared foreign-policy interests will be saved from the broader disruption of Brexit.
The current public image of the Brexit process is of a British government negotiating with itself while simultaneously making little progress in Article 50 talks with the EU. It is perhaps inevitable that disputes over money, borders, citizens and a future trading relationship should overshadow other areas where the EU and UK could develop an effective post-Brexit partnership. Foreign, security and defence policy are areas where a departure from the existing intertwined relationship between the UK, the EU and the 27 other member states would have mutually detrimental effects.
The 13 October joint statement by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Theresa May was a timely reminder of the shared security interests of the EU's member states and the UK. In response to US President Donald Trump's declaration that he would not seek congressional recertification of Iran's compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the leaders of the EU's three largest member states together asserted that preserving nuclear diplomacy with Iran was a shared national-security interest. However, despite the shared interests and decades-long experience of EU–UK diplomatic cooperation, defence and security could be jeopardised by inflexibility in the design of the structures of the post-Brexit relationship.

None of the existing models for the future trade policy relationship between the UK and the EU come with a predetermined foreign and security policy relationship. This article assesses how the future EU-UK foreign and security policy relationship might be organised post-Brexit.
It provides evaluation of the current EU-UK interrelationship in the fields of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and assesses the degree to which the UK is presently integrated into EU decision-making and implementation. It highlights that the UK needs to determine the degree to which it wants autonomy or even divergence from existing EU policies.
The article concludes by rehearsing the costs and benefits of three possible future relationships between the UK and EU foreign, security and defence policy: integrated, associated or detached.

Whitman, R. (2016). Another Theory is Possible: Dissident Voices in Theorising Europe. Journal of Common Market Studies[Online]54:3-18. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12332.

The article argues that dissident voices which attempt to theorise Europe differently and advocate another European trajectory have been largely excluded and left unheard in mainstream discussions over the past decade of scholarship and analysis. Dissident voices in European Union studies are those that seek to actively challenge the mainstream of the study of Europe. As all the contributors to the special issue make clear, there is a rich diversity of alternatives to mainstream thinking and theorising the EU on which to draw for different ways of theorising Europe. The introductory article briefly examines the discipline of mainstreaming, then surveys extent of polyphonic engagement in EU studies before setting out how the special issue contributors move beyond the mainstream. The article will argue the merits of more polyphonic engagement with dissident voices and differing disciplinary approach for the health and vitality of EU studies and the EU policy field itself. The article sets out the wide range of contributions which the special issue articles make to theorising the EU. It summarises the special issue argument that by allowing for dissident voices in theorising Europe another Europe, and another theory, is possible indeed probable.

Whitman, R. (2016). The UK and EU foreign and security policy: an optional extra. The Political Quarterly[Online]87:254-261. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12249.

Foreign and security policy were not areas in which Prime Minister Cameron was seeking to renegotiate the relationship between the UK and the European Union (EU) but security may be a key issue in the EU referendum. The untangling of Britain's foreign and security policy from the EU following a Brexit vote would be relatively uncomplicated. The EU's arrangements for collective foreign and security policy, the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), are conducted on an intergovernmental basis which allows the UK to preserve independence in its diplomacy whilst allowing for the coordination of policy where interests are held in common with other member states. The UK retains substantial diplomatic and military capabilities which would allow it to continue to pursue a separate national foreign, security and defence policy, in the case of either a 'Leave' or 'Remain' outcome.

Whitman, R. (2016). Brexit or Bremain: What future for the UK's European Diplomatic Strategy?International Affairs[Online]92:509-529. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-2346.12607.

A major public debate on the costs and benefits of the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union is presently under way. The outcome of the referendum on 23 June 2016 will be a pivotal moment in determining whether the EU has a future as a component of the UK's European diplomatic strategy or whether there is a major recalibration of how the UK relates to Europe and more widely of its role within international relations. Since accession to the European Economic Community the UK has evolved an uncodified, multipronged European diplomatic strategy. This has involved the UK seeking to reinforce its approach of shaping the security of the continent, preserving a leading diplomatic role for the UK in managing the international relations of Europe, and to maximize British trade and investment opportunities through a broadening and deepening of Europe as an economically liberal part of the global political economy. Since accession the UK's European diplomatic strategy has also been to use membership of the EU as facilitating the enhancement of its international influence, primarily as a vehicle for leveraging and amplifying broader national foreign and security policy objectives. The strategy has been consistent irrespective of which party has formed the government in the UK. Increasing domestic political difficulties with the process of European integration have now directly impacted on this European strategy with a referendum commitment. Whether a vote for a Brexit or a Bremain, the UK will be confronted with challenges for its future European strategy.

Rodt, A., Whitman, R. and Wolff, S. (2015). The EU as an International Security Provider: The Need for a Mid-range Theory. Global Society[Online]29:149-155. Available at: http://doi.org/10.1080/13600826.2015.1046422.

Diez, T., Manners, I. and Whitman, R. (2011). The changing nature of international institutions in Europe: The challenge of the European union. Journal of European Integration[Online]33:117-138. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2011.543522.

Whitman, R. and Wolff, S. (2010). The EU as a conflict manager? the case of Georgia and its implications. International Affairs[Online]86:87-107. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2010.00870.x.

Manners, I. and Whitman, R. (2003). The 'Difference Engine': Constructing and Representing the International Identity of the European Union. Journal of European Public Policy[Online]10 :380-404. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1350176032000085360 .

The purpose of this article is to develop more fully the notion of the international identity of the European Union (EU) in world politics. We will attempt to balance our previous focus of work on the 'active dimension' of the EU's attempts to 'assert its identity on the international scene' by looking at the 'reflexive dimension' of the EUs international identity from a more sociological perspective. Our article will argue that the distinctive polity perspectives and role representations of the EU can be thought of as a form of 'difference engine' which drives the construction and representation of the EUs international identity. Like Babbage's original difference engine, the EU's international identity is not a multiplier of difference, exaggerating the dissimilarities between the EU and the rest of the world through the generation of a new European supranational identity, but functions on the basis of addition - by adding an international EU element to Europeans' complex and multifaceted identities.

Diez, T. and Whitman, R. (2002). Analysing European integration: Reflecting on the English School - Scenarios for an encounter. Journal of Common Market Studies[Online]40:43-67. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1468-5965.00343.

The English School of international relations has rarely been used to analyse European integration. But, as we argue in this article, there may be considerable value in adding the English School to the canon of approaches to European integration studies in order to contextualize European integration both historically and internationally. The concepts of international society, world society and empire in particular may be used to reconfigure the current debate about the nature of EEl governance and to compare the EU to other regional international systems, as well as to reconceptualize the EU's international role, and in particular the EU's power to influence affairs beyond its formal membership borders. Conversely, analysing the EU with the help of these English School concepts may also help to refine the latter in the current attempts to reinvigorate the English School as a research programme.

Whitman, R. (1998). Creating a foreign policy for Europe? Implementing the common foreign and security policy from Maastricht to Amsterdam. Australian Journal of International Affairs[Online]52:165-178. Available at: http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-0031693384&partnerID=40&md5=341452bf90600dc8d62d39d240f413a6.

Research Interests

Professor Whitman's current programme of research being conducted falls into three main areas:

1. Conceptualising the international role and presence of the EU

Projects in this area are focused on:

European foreign policy analysis and the 'normative turn'

English School and the wider Europe

2. The EU foreign policy within a wider European and global context

Projects in this area are focused on:

EU and its near abroad

EU as a global conflict manager

EU and ‘significant’ powers

3. Comparative foreign policy making and European Foreign Policy analysis

Projects in this area are focused on:

Impact of the Lisbon Treaty on EU foreign policy

Comparative analysis of impact of EU membership on member state foreign policy and policy-making processes

UK Foreign and European policy

Research Supervision

Professor Whitman is interested in supervising research degree students who wish to explore the external relations and foreign and security and defence policies of the EU. He is also interested in PhD applications on the foreign policies of European nation states and the enlargement and governance of the EU.

I am currently supervising the following PhD research projects:

Hugo Hansen, The Land of Maybe: Faroese Foreign Policy Decision-Making at the European Crossroads